Studying abroad to get costlier as rupee steadily declines

A depreciating rupee is definitely bad news on a macro level, but it also plays spoilsport with our personal finances. Most impacted will be those heading aboard for joining foreign universities. With the rupee hitting Rs 72/dollar presently, things suddenly don’t look too good on several counts. Education abroad will get more expensive, travelling too will be hurt. With the rupee depreciating, the overall budget of both, students who are already there and those who will head out will be affected.

This includes the application fee, examination fee, tuition fee, and most importantly the cost of living. Those who have taken education loans will also face a problem. Neeraj Khanna, co-founder and director, Spark Career Mentors, sums up the anguish of many parents due to the steady decline in the rupee. “Several mid-senior level corporate executives have taken the tough call of not sending their children abroad. I know of a few students who suffered from depression due to the last-minute change in their education plans.”

According to experts, parents who sent their child to study abroad last year are in an even worse state because they have no choice but to cough up a significantly higher amount for the next three years of undergraduate studies. In the case of Masters’, many students are self-funding their education or have taken loans. And both may not be sufficient anymore. Overall, the situation for several thousand aspirants and their families isn’t so great. However, the good news is that most would have already finished their payments this year and would have landed in US campuses, say experts. By the first week of September, banks would have already disbursed loans. Also, the tuition and other annual fees would have been paid, and students would have landed for orientation programmes.